tomorrow, i should say, because our show is over, we'll talk to north carolina's governor bev perdue, ted strickland, now a national co-chair of obama's e re-election campaign and actor and musician jeff bridges will be with us tomorrow morning as well. he'll be performing on the main stage at carolina fest 2012. right now we have to get to cnn newsroom with zoraida. >> i thought were you going to take another hour. >> no, all you. happening now in the newsroom are you better off now than four years ago? it is the question this morning as the nation's focus turns from tampa to charlotte and the democratic national convention. all of this as we wait on f friday's very important jobs report. runaway truck. runaway truck. amazing video to show you.

a monster truck mishap, losing control and careening right into a crowd. and how do you spell relief? as millions of us are taking a long labor day weekend, where are the lower gas prices we heard about last week? plus, royal rappelling from high above london. the duke of york, yes, almost 100 feet in the air. see what it's like going down the side of a skyscraper. and roddick stays alive, staving off retirement a little bit longer. let's go courtside. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning to you. i'm zoraida sambolin sitting in for carol costello. president obama on the road to charlotte, that's what he's calling his campaign blitz through four key states as he heads to this week's democratic national convention.

>> on thursday night i'm going to offer you what i believe is a better path forward, a path that will grow this economy and create more jobs and strengthen the middle class. and the good news is you have to choose the path we take. you can go with their plan to give massive new tax cuts to folks who have already made it. or we can go forward with my plan to keep taxes low for every american who is still trying to make it. [ applause ] >> senior congressional correspondent dana bash is in charlotte working really hard, i might add. there have been some crossed wires on the democrats' message. tell us all about that. >> reporter: look, it's the fundamental question that has been asked since ronald reagan ran for president back in the '80s and that question is, are you better off than you were four years ago. it's a fund aamental question tt an incumbent president has to answer.

and surprisingly the president's top two advisers were out on the sunday shows and they didn't give a clear answer. what made matters worse is that one of the democrats is the governor of maryland and he gave effectively the wrong answer. listen to what he said. >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. the question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before george bush brought us the bush job loss, the bush recession, the bush deficits, the series of desert wars charged for the first time to credit card, the national credit card. >> reporter: so that one word, no, that was very problematic. republicans jumped on it. so governor o'malley came back in to cnn this morning. he had his broom. he wanted to clean up what he did and here is what he told soledad o'brien. >> here is the reality of our situation as a country. we are clearly better off as a country because we're now

creating jobs rather than losing them. >> but you said no. >> soledad, we have not recovered all that we lost in the bush recession. that's why we need to continue to move forward. >> reporter: now there are going to be a lot of powerful speakers who will try to finesse that question over the next several days. the president's wife, michelle obama, and of course bill clinton who the democratic party and the obama campaign in particular are turning towards big time now to try to be kind of a validator for what democrats can do with the economy because, remember, the economy was in great shape when he left office. >> that one little no will be tough to recover. dana bash live for us, thank you very much. and here is a look at some of the key speakers who will take the podium at the convention tomorrow. first lady michelle obama will address the opening night of the gathering. on wednesday former president bill clinton will give the nominating address. and, of course, president obama delivers his acceptance speech.

cnn coverage begins tomorrow at noon with wolf blitzer. submit your questions and get answers in real time live chat. logis on to cnn.com/roundtable to participate. it's an election year which means the truth probably lies somewhere are in between the partisan talking points. let's talk some numbers. business correspondent christine romans joins us now. you did a little fact checking for us. i love that. what did you find out? >> i'm looking at job statistics. it has to do with your job. it is the number one economic statistic for whether or not you feel better about your own economy. first unemployment, the unemployment rate. it was 7.8%. look at how it spiked up to 10%. pull up this chart for you, i hope. you can see it go all the way up to 10% and now it's back to 8.3%. this is why it's good to have perspective. it depends. you are definitely better off than when it was almost 10% unemployment but you might not be better off today than you

were in 2009. 800,000 jobs were being lost every month when the president took office. that's what the red bars show. the most recent jobs report show jobs gains of 163,000. it's about two years now of private sector jobs growth. it may not feel like enough to you if you have a job now but it's not paying as well as it used to. >> and that is the problem. when we talked earlier it was that those jobs that have been created are very low pay iing jobs. >> that's right. when you look it says 58% of the jobs recovered are low wage jobs. that is a real issue for this economy that will not be cleaned up by just one president most likely. serious seriously if you've got so much of your job creation coming from low wage jobs that has serious implications for whether you can

afford to send your family to college, your kids to college, whether you can buy a house. so it means we've got to have better paying jobs and more of them. we have structural problems in the american economy that did not start in february 2009. >> it's a really important point to make as well. thank you very much. we appreciate it. it is six minutes past the hour. president obama is on the road today but he'll take a break from campaigning to tour hurricane isaac's damage in louisiana. he'll meet with local officials and view their recovery efforts under way in and around new orleans. his presidential rival, republican nominee, mitt romney visited that state on friday. and six days after hurricane isaac made landfall big problems dog much of louisiana. flooding concerns are rising along the pearl river as it reaches its crest today. it is now more than five feet above flood stage and several thousand homes are at risk in the area. in plaquemines parish many neighborhoods are still under water. the storm overtopped a levee there swallowing homes.

as much as 14 feet of floodwater. much of the parish is without power and patience is running out. >> our citizens are holding up pretty good but you can seep the concerns and the issues. it's like why are we the last again? we were the first here and we are always the last to be repaired. and it's a crying shame. >> thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in louisiana. 3,500 people are still in shelters as well. this is across the state. so to find out how you can help, those devastated by isaac, visit our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact. so a three-day holiday weekend is almost over and a lot of drivers were probably in sticker shock because of higher gas prices. thanks to hurricanes and the summer blend of gas, we are paying almost 20 cents more now than this exact same time last

year. alison, we were promised lower gas prices. >> reporter: so much for promises, right? this one is certainly not being kept. do you know what we can pin these high gas prices on? isaac, this hurricane isaac. now the good news is there wasn't any damage to refineries, to rigs or to platforms that are in the gulf of mexico. but what had to happen before the storm hit was that all of that had to shut down or all of these refineries had to cut back on production before the storm came and that down time meant that oil that is produced there that is refined there wasn't being refined into gasoline and this is really a case of the law of supply and demand. there's less gasoline on the market that pushes prices higher. the gulf coast is a major spot of oil and gas production in this country. in fact, 40% of the petroleum refining capacity comes right from along the gulf coast. now we can't just blame isaac

for these high prices at the gas pump. also there was a refinery fire at a chevron refinery in california. these are other factors that crimp supply and drive up oil prices and then those gas prices. >> are the high prices here to stay or will we see them go back down anytime soon? >> reporter: that is the money question, isn't it? it all depends on how fast the refineries that were shut down, how fast they can come back online. here is where it stands now. as of yesterday two refineries on the gulf coast were still shut down and that's about 6% of the total gulf coast capacity. nine of those are beginning to ramp up or are at reduced rates so you're not seeing things run on full speed at this point and now there's good news here, though. once labor day is behind us, we usually see prices drop because demand goes down. that they haheavy driving seaso. also by september 15th, zoraida,

refineries should be switching to less expensive winter blend from the more expensive summer blend so relief is on the way, just not too sure when it's going to happen. >> alison kosik, thank you very much. vice president joe biden is spending this labor day campaigning in detroit. a u-haul truckloaded with equipment for a vp event was stolen this weekend right outside a detroit hotel. biden speaks at a labor day rally after marching in a parade. he had scheduled to speak in charlotte. that is scheduled for thursday. from wall street to north carolina. occupy protesters take to the streets ahead of the democratic national convention. we'll tell you why coming up. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments

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tomorrow. tuesday's highlights include speeches from first lady michelle obama and san antonio mayor julian castro. in pakistan today a car filled with explosives slammed into a u.s. consulate vehicle. this is in the city of peshawar. two american consulates stach were among 25 people wounded in the explosion. take a look at those pictures. two pakistanis were killed. and the founder of the unification church has died. the reverend sun myung moon whose church became famous for mass weddings. moon was 92 years old. bain capital is under investigation by the new york attorney general's office over potential misuse of tax loopholes. the company is one of about 12 private equity firms being investigated now. they deny romney's involvement

in the tax strategy. and in weather, tropical storm leslie is churning over the atlantic and could become a hurricane by friday. right now it's on a northward track and might threaten bermuda over the weekend. thousands of campers in the san gabriel mountains of southern california are evacuating because of a fast growing wildfire. more than 200 firefighters are battling the 3,600-acre blaze in the angeles national forest. it broke out mere a camp site yesterday. and security is tight in charlotte, north carolina, ahead of this week's democratic national convention. some say the precautions put into effect by local authorities are enough to qualify as free speech violations. police say they are maximizing all efforts to keep everyone safe. as democrats gear up for their convention in charlotte, north carolina, so, too, are protesters. occupy wall street took to the

streets of north carolina protesting the banks in this southern financial center. cnn's joe johns has more. >> hey, hey, ho, ho, wall street has got to go. >> reporter: between 2,000 and 10,000 people were predicted for this march, only a few hundred showed up but they were loud. >> our children -- >> reporter: about what you would expect from a march against the banks that make charlotte one of the country's leading financial centers. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> reporter: honestly it was the police who led the way but not far behind pushing a bicycle was an organizer from occupy wall street in new york who had come over from tampa where he had been protesting at the republican national convention. he said he'd lost some people after the event in florida. >> we ultimately had a couple of buses and some other people found their own transportation. now as for numbers here, there are a lot less. half the people ended up going

back to new york. >> reporter: why did they do that? >> a lot of our people have jobs. a lot of people aren't interested in protesting obama. >> reporter: for the police and the city, of course, the smaller numbers made the march more manageable. political conventions of the past have often exploded in ugly confrontatio confrontations. but not so far this year. what is the recipe for success with these marches? we've seen a peaceful march in tampa and apparently a peaceful march here. very different from what we saw in denver and minneapolis four years ago. >> i think it's anticipation. you have to anticipate the people, meet with people, talk to people, understand what they want to do and try to negotiate yourself through it in order to make sure at the end everybody is safe. >> reporter: protests are expected to continue here over the holiday including one demonstration featuring members of organized labor. joe johns, cnn, charlotte. >> the u.s. moves to limit

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it's 21 minutes past the hour. the rise in so-called green on blue attacks on anywnato troops afghanistan prompts a dramatic change. u.s. special operations forces are temporarily suspending their training of afghan police recruits and revetting officers that are already on the force. our barbara starr joins us from the pentagon with more on this. are they actually looking at their vetting procedures and changing those, barbara. >> reporter: they're looking at everything, zoraida. that's what they tell us. it involves about 1,000 afghan police that are being trained, pulling them out of training, putting them to the side, revetting, looking at their security clearance status. are they really suitable to be in the afghan forces. that's about 1,000. but a much deeper issue now literally all 350,000 afghan security forces getting another look because of this green on blue situation. we have some statistics.

of course these are lives. they are not just numbers, but they do begin to tell why the u.s. is so concerned. i want to show you some of them. 2012 so far had year just up to right now 26 u.s. troops killed in these so-called green on blue attacks, a total of 45 coalition forces. that's so far this year. keep that number of 45 in mind. all of last year 24 u.s. troops killed. 35 coalition troops. 35 all of last year. 45 already this year. and it's beginning to raise questions, of course, about the u.s. and nato strategy going forward. will the u.s. and nato stay in afghanistan through 2014 as they have promised? a lot of questions being raised zoraida. >> what are the troops saying? >> reporter: well, you know, they are concerned. laes no question about it. but let's be clear. they're out in the field.

they are a vast majority by all accounts doing their jobs. but a lot of new -- without any hesitation, without any change in how they operate in the field but it doesn't mean they're not concerned. there are a lot of new measures. now when troops are sleeping, they earmark one troop, one soldier, marine, whatever, to stand guard to make sure there are no problems. that happens around sleeping barracks, chow halls. we've reported that most of the troops are now carrying their weapons fully loaded at all times even on bases. so you're seeing this great concern now. and the question that still remains to be answered is why did it take so long for all these security measures to happen? why so many incidents before they decided to tighten up? >> you're absolutely right, barbara starr, live at the pentagon. thank you very much. and the u.s. state department says it is working to find out information about a missing u.s. journalist. us a it continue tice

disappeared while reporting in syria. there's a picture of him there. "the washington post," which hired the freelancer reports tice is being held by the syrian government. a syrian ex-patriot group is among those calling for his release saying he faces inhumane conditions and possible torture. so are you better off today than you were when president obama took office? it is the big question looming as democrats convene in north carolina for their national convention. our contributors, l.s. granderson and will cain are ready to jump into this debate. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play.

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good morning to you. i'm zoraida sambolin in for carol costello. stories we are following in the

newsroom. president obama visits new orleans to see the damage from hurricane isaac. meanwhile, the rising pearl river threatens to flood more homes. in plaquemines parish the power is still out to thousands of homes and businesses. and 3,500 people across the state are still in shelters. if you would like to help, you can visit our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact. and tomorrow a firsthand account of the raid that killed osama bin laden will be released. "no easy day" will hit store shelves a week earlier. it was written by a navy s.e.a.l. on that mission but under a pseudonym. the book violates secrecy agreements, they say, something the author's lawyer denies. and check out some amazing video. saturday night, this is right outside eugene, oregon. that is a monster truck that drives into the stands. it lost control on a dirt

racetrack, hit a barrier, three people were hurt there. and a college band misses its first game of the 2012 football season over a possible hazing incident. clark howard university in atlanta suspended its band while it conducts an investigation. details have not been released. a high school marching band performed that halftime show. democrats are going into their convention tomorrow with a big question looming. the question of whether you are better off today than you were four years ago. republicans raised that issue at their convention last week, as you very well know. now it is the democrats' turn to answer. one prominent democrat has already dived right in. >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. the question, without a doubt, we are not as good as we were

before president bush brought us the job losses. >> that was martin o'malley. here is what he told cnn this morning. >> here's the reality of our situation as a country. we are clearly better off as a country because we're now creating jobs rather than losing them. >> but you said no. >> soledad, we have not recovered all that we lost in the bush recession. that's why we need to continue to move forward. >> i know two folks who want to chime in here. let's chat with our cnn contributors will cain who leans right and l.z. granderson who leans left. l.z., are democrats having a hard time answering that questi question? >> yes, because it's not the right question that should be asked. >> so what is the right question? >> the right question is why have there been for the past 40 years a dying off of the middle class? this isn't about four years of president obama. this isn't about eight years of

george w. bush. the fact of the matter is the numbers have shown that the middle class has been shrinking not just in terms of its size but the actual income for the past 40 years. >> the question is, are we better off? and they should have jumped on that answer right away. >> that's a campaign question. that isn't a question about the real state of the economy or the middle class. that that throws red meat to people opposed to the obama administration and it's a question a lot of democrats throw at george w. bush but it doesn't address the real issue which is what's going on with the middle class and that's been going on for 40 years. not just four and not just eight. >> will, are we better off today? >> no. as you asked that question, it's simple. it is a campaign question. if it's asked that way, if republicans ask it, the media ask it, the answer is no. median income is down. net worth is way down.

unemployment up. all of the metrics answer that question for you. the answer is no. >> republicans released a new ad attacking president obama for saying the same thing that he did four years ago. let's listen. >> these are the steps that we must take. >> there are mreplenty of steps can take right now to help create jobs and grow this economy. if we are going to deal with our dependence on foreign oil -- >> if we're going to end our defendence on foreign oil -- >> recruit an army of new teachers. make college affordable. make college more affordable. and repair our crumbling roads and bridges. we have crumbling roads and bridges. >> great research and editing but is it fair it will take more than his first four years to turn the economy around? >> i'm really tracking up inside because i cannot believe they want to try to play that game,

the videotape rewind because if you hold up mitt romney and do the same thing it would be even more hilarious in my opinion. to answer your question, no, of course not. it took longer than four years to get in the state we're in. it will take more than three-plus years to get us out of this mess and i think if you take a look at what the numbers were looking like in 2007-2008 as president obama was heading into the white house with the hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost, you look at it now and you see that for the past 25, 26 consecutive months we've had a job increase, i think things are turning around but he still needs more time. the country needs more time. >> will, is it a fair ad? >> yeah, i think it's a fair ad to hold president obama to the standards he set for himself. i think it's more fair, in fact, than asking are you better off than you were four years ago? he is asking for four more years. are we in the midst of a recovery? the answer to that it looks like maybe we are but, look, the

american economy recovers from recessions. we do that in every recession. leading you to the second question is this as good a recovery as you could have asked for? this is the deepest and slowest recession and recovery from a recession since world war ii. it's the longest, most drawn out recession. so do you ask yourself, is it head hadding in the right direction, four more years? i think you start asking yourself a third question, do you like the long-term vision of the country that president obama has put forward? answer those and you can pick your choice in this election. for me it's too many distractions, health care was a distraction from recovery and i don't appreciate the long-term vision of the country that he's laid out. >> in all fairness absolutely you're right about that, will. you have to mention there's been a high level of obstruction within congress, within the republican party that helped prevent some of the things that president obama wanted to accomplish during his first term. i think it's disingenuous to

suggest it's all because of president obama's leadership that we haven't gotten there. the republicans, which has been documented by credible sources including "time" magazine really went out of their way to block anything the president wanted to do to turn this economy around so that he'd look poor when it was time for re-election. >> look, l.z., president obama got to lead this country through a stimulus package, a massive health care bill. he had plenty of political capital to get a lot of things done. it is perfectly fair for the american public to now look back and go, how did you spend your political capital? if your answer to that is i wish i could have done more because republicans stood in my way, i couldn't do more of the amazing things i did get done -- president obama got amazing things done in four years. now it's fair for us to judge him on what ep got the done and the results of those things. >> okay, will cain, l.z. grand er son, i could listen to you debate all day long but we've run out of time. thank you very much. thanks for being with us this morning. cnn coverage begins tomorrow at noon with wolf blitzer and the

best political team on television. submit your questions and get answers in real time live chat. logis on to cnn.com/roundtable in order to participate. e-mails from michael jackson's tour promoter paint a scary picture of the troubled star as he prepared for his final this is it tour. we'll get all the details coming up. [ female announcer ] kelly tweets, "yoplait light banana cream pie makes my taste buds do a happy dance." ha, ok! get ready for more happy dancing 'cause now all our light flavors

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welcome back. 40 minutes past the hour. the promoter for michael jackson's comeback tour wasn't so sure the king of pop was ready. e-mails in sunday's "los angeles times" show that the tour director believed jackson was paranoid and obsessive and suggested that a, quote, top psychiatrist evaluate him asap. what else did those e-mails say? >> reporter: well, you know what, zoraida, plain and simple

they said the executives were really worried about michael jackson's health and his ability to perform. now the "l.a. times" obtained these e-mails after they were gathered for an insurance company law sue, to avoid a $17.5 million policy that was purchased by aeg live in case michael jackson was not able to perform 50 shows scheduled for london. we don't know how the e-mails were obtained but they show a very concerned group of promoters who thought the jackson tour was in jeopardy either because of health issues or because, as one executive wrote, quote, he is lazy and constantly changes his mind to fit his immediate wants. now these e-mails detail an encounter between aeg live the day the pop star was to publicly announce the shows. the e-mail has phillips saying, quote, m.j. is locked in his room, drunk and despondent. i'm trying to sober him up. and he adds, quote, i screamed

at him so loud the walls are shaking. he is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self-loathing and doubt now that it is show time. now that was back in march of 2009. on that day the promoters blamed london traffic for jackson being 90 minutes late for the announcement. when cnn reached out to phillips later that year to ask about michael jackson's health he told us, quote, he's as healthy as he can be. no health problems whatsoever. but, of course, as, zoraida, those e-mails detail a totally different story. >> wow. has his family responded at all? >> reporter: no. no response just yet. we are on top of this, this story just breaking yesterday so we are reaching out to all parties involved but we haven't gotten a response. >> nischelle turner live in los angeles, thank you very much. back with more "showbiz tonight" headlines including details from prince harry's wild vegas vacation.

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checking top stories. hurricane isaac's effects are still being felt nearly a week after it slammed into the gulf coast. just take a look at these pictures. forecasters predict the pearl river will crest today posing a potential flooding threat to st. tammany parish. president obama is set to visit damaged areas in louisiana later today. and tragedy at a football game in georgia this weekend when a

fan fell over a railing to his death. 20-year-old isaac grub was killed after falling from an upper level of the stadium during a game between north carolina state and tennessee. there he is there. witnesses say he was celebrating a touchdown when that accident happened. and take a look at these amazing pictures, flames engulfed an abandoned hotel early sunday morning. this is portland, oregon. firefighters battled the flames from the ground and by boat. luckily no injuries were reported there. and prince andrew makes headlines. he rappelled down london's skyscraper this morning to raise money for charity. he made the decescent and reportedly said he would never do it again. it is the tallest building in western europe. and some people in the midwest could see severe storms today and remnants from isaac are still dumping rains in the east. meteorologist alexandra steele

joins us now with where the rain is falling or expected to fall. hi, good morning, zoraida. good morning, everyone. believe it or not isaac still has a hand in the showers, the thunderstorms, the flooding that we're seeing. here is the current radar picture and you can see all the way from southern ohio through kentucky and tennessee, west virginia, down through alabama we're watching these showers and the problem is they're so slow moving. they're just snalg along kind of training, following off the areas coming after them and also here through the mid-atlantic and the carolina coast, some very slow moving storms as well. so is there more rain in the forecast? you bet there is. it's beneficial for some. and in about an hour we'll talk more be detail about the drought. this is between two and a half and about four and a half inches of rain predominantly from bi g birmingham. it's all the way up the east coast into the northeast. look at new york state right along the new york state thruway about four inches of rain

through the next two days as well. so a lot of moisture. we have energy from isaac. we have a cold front we're tapping into. extra lift to squeeze out more moisture so kind of all the ingredients together for that. here is the big picture today. northern new england along the east coast we're seeing really muggy conditions so feels a lot earlier than 81 or 79 degrees in the northeast. >> it sure does. thank you so much, alexandra steele live for us. and democrats ready to hold their convention in charlotte, north carolina. we will take you there live to see what voters in the tossup states say are the issues that are important to them. forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover.

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>> it is 50 minutes past the hour and it's the place to be if you're a democrat. charlotte, north carolina. democrats are about to do that exact same thing tell us about your full plate. >> already the excitement is building here. obviously the democrats trying to answer what the republicans did last week. we're at the cnn grill. we will be talking to a lot of people over the next couple of

days. we are really at ground zero when it comes to voters. you're talking about north carolina here, charlotte. a lot of big issues are on the table. this is a place where it's a ted heat between barack obama and mitt romney. we are seeing social issues as well as economic issues. it was four years ago that it was just 14,000 votes that separated the two. and president obama took the 14,000 and put it over the top out of 4.3 million voters. that was the first time a democrat had done that since 1976. one thing that is different now is really the diversity. the umbrella of all of the people that are coming to this ground zero, this bible belt state. we when to a couple of events yesterday. they talked about the differences, the experiences that they are having here.

clearly there is more representation, minority representation. the other thing that we went to is we went to a unity event for the gay community. it was a local grass roots group promoting gay rights. i talked to a number of individuals there. it was funny to see some folks posing with the obama cut-out. that was the kind of enthusiasm that was there. it was a happening party. but in all seriousness, some of the people said and i had a chance to talk to them. one woman who is a republican who says she is thinking of switching parties and voting for p obama this go around, she voted for mccain last time and it was the issue over same-sex marriage. i want you to listen to how she explained her decision. >> i love obama for that, and you know, it's actually, it's one of those, it might be a deal breaker. i may just go ahead and switch to be a democrat. >> love is love. we all love each other.

and just because two women love each other or two men love each other or a man and a woman love each other it shouldn't matter. we are all love. >> one of the issues that is playing out here in north carolina. there are some democrats that may say the president could be paying for this. there are a lot of evangelicals and others who do not support that position. there may be a lower turn out in the african-american community because of that. a lot of people believe that the electoral votes in north carolina will make a very big difference in terms of how this actually unfolds. economics, we can't down play that at all. charlotte is a big banking town. it is the home of bank of america. we saw some protesters making the point here that they are not satisfied with the way the banks

have been handled. if you look at the state, unemployment 9.6%, one of the highest in the country. a lot of issues and ideas and the president will be coming here to make his case before the democrats. >> thank you so much. we appreciate it. we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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>> don't you love the music? preretirement runs. roddic won in four sets yesterday. the 30-year-old announced last thursday that this would be his last tournament. nothing like going out on top. a new contract over the weekend and that means replacements will be on the field for wednesday's regular season opener. mark mckay reports, those substitute refs have had mixed results in the preseason. >> as another nfl season gets ready to kick off, disaster could be right behind. >> both teams were on -- both fouls were on the kicking team. five yard penalty. >> the nfl and its referees have been in a labor dispute ever since the agreement expired three months ago.

replacements have been called from the lower levels of college football and high school ranks. the nfl continues to provide on the job training for these officials, the returns have been fixed with some embarrassing moments that could put the credibility of the league at stake. >> we hoe hope the officials know the rules, know how to enforce them and can keep the game under control and keep order. >> there are 121 nfl referees. they are considered part time employees who have other careers outside the nfl. last year officials were paid an average of $149,000 plus benefits. >> they want a raise and they are requesting a significant raise. they want more than double that over the course of five years. the nfl is countering with annual raises of 5% to 11%. there is quite a distance between those. there is also some issues about pensions and a few other things.

but at the end of the day, the problem is financial. >> the nfl player's association has criticized roger goodell and the league say thag are jeopardizing players' safety by using inferior referees. >> it is in the back of our minds as a bit of a concern. these referees have never refereed in an nfl season game. that is a bit of a concern. >> laws are only as good as their enforcement, really. if a player senses they can get away with something, helmet to helmet hits, if order is not being upheld, they will take advantage of that. it's a perception that the nfl is not doing everything it can to protect players playing a very dangerous game. >> the first week of games could determine which side gets the upper hand in negotiations. if the games come and go without incident, the nfl will continue using replacements and the the locked out referees will

continue to lose paychecks. if not the outrage from fans, coaches, and players will put pressure on the league to get a deal done. >> no new talks have been scheduled between the nfl and the referee's association. the next hour of cnn newsroom begins right now. >> happening this hour in the newsroom, it is a busy time for charlotte, north carolina. final preparations are underway for this week's democratic national convention. and republicans and protes tors are also in town looking to spread their message. >> days after the storm system passed over the gulf and we are still dealing with problems, power outages and a threat of flooding. the story from new orleans is coming up. >> and it is a fight over alleged discrimination. one woman says she was fired from a popular retailer because of her looks.

>> she literally looked to my district manager and said that's the store manager? i wanted somebody with blond hair and blue eyes. >> now this former employee is taking a stand. >> in your iphone an i pod can hold thousands of songs but did you know that music is not yours? newsroom starts right now. good morning to you. i am sitting in for carol. we begin this morning with president obama on the road to charlotte. that's what he is calling his campaign blitz through four key states as he heads to this week's democratic national convention. and here is a look at some of the key speakers who will take the podium. first lady michelle obama will address the gathering. on wednesday, former president

bill clinton will deliver the nominating address. and then president barack obama will speak on thursday. but the convention is hearing other voices as well. >> occupy wall street protesters streamed past the corporate red quarters of wells fargo and bank of america. meanwhile obama's republican rival is enjoying a bit of a bounce after the gop convention last week. mitt romney has closed a 4 percentage point gap and the men are now deadlocked at 45% each. >> obama heads to the convention with big goals. regain some momentum and mute the gop message that obama made big promises and delivered few results. take a license. >> president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the

ocean oceans. [ laughter ] and to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. [ cheers and applause ] >> senior congressional correspondent is in charlotte ahead of tomorrow's start of the dnc. now the democrats get the big stage. how will the democrats' message compare to the republicans'? >> they will try to argue that the president did promise a lot and he delivered on more than people may think. the bottom line is that democrats are going to try to have to say that more than what they have said before which is that things were really bad under bush and that president obama inherited just a terrible

economy. but, the tough part for the president is that the whole fundamental question, are you better off than you were four years ago? that is something that his top campaign aides are having a hard time answering. just yesterday they fanned out on the sunday shows. his two top campaign aides couldn't give a definitive answer and one that did gave the wrong answer. he said no. today they are trying to clean that up. what they are trying to do is hone the message to something along the lines of what vice president joe biden started to say a couple of months ago which is gm, general motors, the car company is alive and osama bin laden is dead. democratic strategists say if they can keep it on that theme, then they will do better than they did leading into this. >> and concise as well. i would imagine they are trying to do that, get a concise message out there. thank you so much we appreciate

it. coverage begins tomorrow at noon with wolf. submit questions and get answers in a realtime chat. >> president obama is on the road today, but he will take a break from campaigning to tour hurricane isaac's damage in louisiana. he will meet with local officials and view the recovery efforts underway in and around new orleans. his pial rival mitt romney visited the state on friday. >> and six days after hurricane isaac made landfall, big problems still dog much of louisiana. flooding concerns are rising along the pearl river as it reaches its crest today. it is now five feet above flood stage and several thousand homes are at risk. much of the parish is without power and their patience is

really running out. >> thousands of homes and bidses are stimwithout power in louisiana. 35500 people are also living in shemters across the state here. we get a report from george howl in new orleans. >> reporter: days after the storm system passed over new orleans and we're still dealing with problems in the form of power outages. we know that 129,000 people are still without power in the region. when you look on the streets, you can see utility trucks going neighborhood by neighborhood slowly but surely doing the job of restoring power. on the other side of lake pontchartrain, another problem exists, the problem of flooding. we are talking about the pearl

river floodwater that continues to flow south. there is a navigational canal that officials were very concerned about. there was a concern that the locks could fail but at this point, officials feel more confident that that situation has stabilized. in plaquemines parish, many are returning to their homes but many homes remain underwater. we're talking about a storm surge seven to eight feet. officials are doing their best to pump a lot of water out. they decided to breach several spots along the levee to get the water out faster. we have heard from janet napolitano that people are on the ground to help with the recovery effort. >> we will stay until this recovery is complete. we are here to be part of the team, part of the team in louisiana and make sure that hurricane isaac is put to rest

as soon as we can for all of those affected. and in the meantime, please know that all of us are thinking about those in louisiana who are now without their homes or ability or without their business or ability to open up because of either water, lack of power, whatever. we know this is a big, big, tough storm but we will work through it together. >> and we know that president obama will visit the region today. he will fly into new orleans specifically to tour the area in st. john the baptist parish, the st sea areas affected by the storm. >> a story that will tug at the heart strings of animal lovers. louisiana's society for the prevention of cruelty to animals will open its shelter. the goal is reunite displaced pets with their owners. many people were separated from

their dogs and cats when the storm became more destructive than expected. there is good news. 33 million people heading home after labor day weekend away. most of them are driving. hopefully they budgeted more money for gas. according to aaa, we are paying an average of $3.83 for a gallon of gas. the highest in hawaii, the lowest in colorado. eight states have averages that are more than $4 a gallon. prices are nearly 20 cents more than this time last year. the reason? hurricanes and the summer blend of gas. prices are expected to fall any day now. >> millions of songs are sold on i tunes. we have iphones and i pods filled with music but who actually owns those songs and what happens to them when you die? allison is live in new york with more. what happens to them when you die? >> it's not something that i think about. i just downloaded a couple of

songs last night. it was like the last thing on my mind or not on my mind. that is a question that at least one celebrity is asking at this point. bruce willis is actually thinking about taking legal action against apple to make sure he can pass on his i tunes songs to his four daughters. he may want to read the terms and conditions first. there is a section that really makes it clear that the products are licensed not sold to you. when you buy a song from i tunes, you're not actually buying it. you ear buying the rights or license to listen to it. you look at the terms and conditions and it doesn't specify songs and movies so it's not so clear with the songs. you have to agree to this really long list of terms and conditions and you accept those rules and you accept that apple

can change them on a dime as well and also bruce willis, by the way, there is a bigger cause here for him. it could affect a lot of us and not just him if he is able to swing this about what happens to our itunes songs when we die. >> i didn't realize it was about dying. >> you can share your songs between those on your network. it's unclear whether you can transfer your actually account to somewhere else and that is what willis is asking about you can share your content with up to five other computers, up to 10 other apple devices. apple offers a service called itunes plus. this is flexibility. you pay extra for each song or movie but you get more flexibility on who you can share your con ten with. >> you could just give your i pod to somebody, right? that's a way around it. very interesting.

it is 12 minutes past the hour. take a look at this. a huge fire. firefighters battle that blaze for hours. we will tell you what investigators are saying. >> and protecting nato troops from attacks by afghan security. we will tell you the steps special operations forces are taking. so let's talk about coverage. based on this chart, who would you choose ? wow. you guys take a minute. verizon, hands down. i'm going to show you guys another chart. pretty obvious. i don't think color matters. pretty obvious. what's pretty obvious about it ? that verizon has the coverage. verizon. verizon. we're going to go to another chart. it doesn't really matter how you present it. it doesn't matter how you present it. verizon. more 4g lte coverage than all other networks combined. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills.

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>> it is 15 minutes past the hour. in pakistan today, a car filled with explosives slammed into a u.s. consulate vehicle in the city. two american staff were among 25 people wounded in that explosion. two pakistanis were killed. >> police have killed a man suspected of going on a shooting rampage, firing at people in cars on sunday. only one person was injured in the attack. >> and take a look at these amazing pictures. flames engulfed an abandoned hotel in portland, oregon. firefighters battled the flames by ground and boat. luckily no one was hurt. >> and they still don't know

what caused a plane to crash at an air show. look at that. the pilot of the plane was killed after the plane went down in a field, exploding in front of thousands of spectators. this shows a dramatic explosion right as it happened. thanks the the for taking the shot and sending ut into us here. >> the u.s. is moving on a couple of fronts to protect troops from insider attacks in afghanistan. special operations forces have temporarily suspended the training of police recruits while reveting current officers. that compares to 24 such u.s. troop deaths for all of 2011. let's bring in retired major general. thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> absolutely. >> 14 nato soldiers were killed in august alone in the insider

attacks. why do you think the number is spiking now? >> i think it's a combination of factors. the leadership in afghanistan have admitted this. when the young recruits are coming in, the vetting process is thorough and they do a good job of identifying them. what happens subsequently is a process that has been a trophying. as they integrate in with the nato forces, primarily u.s. forces. they try to increase the amount of counter intelligence during the follow up period and then the integration into n with the nato forces. >> they have said that they will read that. so do you think they are just going to rewrite all the rules to include what you just

suggested? >> i think those rules are already in place. what they're going to do is be more aggressive about enforcing them. the pressure is to be sure there is a sufficient number of afghan forces by the date certain that the united states is going to depart. if you stop the recruitment and revet all of the troops you would extend the amount of time before the united states reaches the level where it should say to the military that it's time for us to depart. but the united states says we're going to leave at this date. so the concern would be are you now going to try to accelerate the recruitment and training. the vetting process itself works well it just hasn't been enforce ed. >> do you think that perhaps

there is a possibility that the u.s. will pull out earlier? >> no, i don't think so. not at all. i think what's important is the united states and nato have demonstrated a partnership with the afghans that is really unprecedented and unmatched. the united states is going to lean into the wind. they're not going to back off because we have got this trouble spot. they are instituting the rules and regulations they have in place. they are being more aggressive about those and they are also instituting a couple of extra steps in that there might be what is known as the fiscal security detachments or details that have been reserved for senior officers that now might be delegated down to lower levels to insure there is always somebody available and in the room when there is a meeting that has the authority and ability to act quickly if you think something is going to go wrong. >> all right, james, thank you for being with us this morning.

we appreciate your expertise. >> thank you. >> and a book by a former navy seal who was on the team that killed osama bin laden goes on sale tomorrow. no easy day is already number one on amazon's number one. he wrote the book under the name mark owen. no military secrets were spilled nor laws broken in the writing of the book. >> what is p obama really like? you will find out in a new cnn documentary. we have a clip that you do not want to miss. it's coming up next. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico.

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>> 23 minutes past the hour as democrats prepare for their national convention to start tomorrow, we wanted to start. >> sit part of a new documentary, obama revealed. here is a preview for you. >> in my interview with president obama, i talked to him about why he has not built more relationships with some of those washington insiders who could have helped get his agenda

through. here is what he said. >> sometimes michelle and i not doing the circuit and going out to dinners with folks is perceived as us being cool. it actually has more to do with us being parents. in the evening, 6:30 we want to be at the dinner table with our kids and we want to help with their home work. sometimes that is interpreted as me not wanting to be out there slapping backs and wheeling and dealing. it really has to do more with where we are at our time in our lives. >> if you get re-elected, they might not want to hang out with mom and dad. >> it is already starting. >> will you do more outreach? >> my hope is that getting past this election, people will have an opportunity to maybe step back and say, you know what?

the differences that divide us are not as important as the common bonds we have as americans. some of that will require additional effort on my part. hopefully we will see more effort on the other side as well. >> so in the documentary we delve more deeply into all of these issues, both the president's family life and some of these issues of partisanship in washington and who shoulders responsibility for it. including secretary clinton, his former secretary and former chief of staff and the leader of the opposition speaker john boehner and a lot of other people. >> watch barack obama revealed. the man, the president. right here on cnn tonight at 8:00. >> politicians make a lot of promises and so did barack

obama. we are looking at the ones he kept and the ones he broke. ♪ ♪ lord, you got no reason ♪ you got no right ♪

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. >> good morning to you. president obama visits louisiana later today to see the damage from hurricane isaac. meanwhile the rising pearl river threatens to flood more homes. in plaquemines parish, the pow ser still out and 3500 people across the state are still in shelters. tropical storm less lee could become a hurricane by friday. right now it's on a northward track and might threaten bermuda over the weekend. >> police officers are hurt while trying to stop fighting between catholics and

protestants. this is in northern eyreland, talking about becoming part of the u.s. or remaining in northern eyreland. more arrests are expected there. >> in a presidential campaign, both sides will make promises. republicans have a new ad right now attacking president obama's broken promises. >> these are the steps that we must take. there are plenty of steps we can take right now. >> right now. >> to start getting our economy back on track. >> to help create jobs and grow this economy. if we're going to deal with our dependence on foreign oil. >> president obama released a similar ad attacking mitt romney about three months ago. >> it started like this. >> i speak the language of business. i know how jobs are created. >> but it ended like this. one of the worst economic

records in the country. >> so as democrats prepare to begin their convention, we want to look at what promises the president kept and which ones he broke. angie joins me now from tampa. thank you for being with us this morning. we're happy to have you. let's start with the promises to allow americans to import prescription drugs. did he keep it or not? >> this one got a promise broken. it was to allow the cheaper imports into the country. we stopped hearing about this promise around the time of the negotiations for the held care law. it seem fod go by the wayside as the drug companies came on board with the new law which did expand prescription drug coverage for medicare but as far as the imports, that's a promise broken. >> and the president promised to end the use of torture. did he? >> we rated this promise kept. these national security promises

are difficult to evaluate but all of the human rights observers that we have spoken with say they believe that torture or enhanced interrogation has not happened under this administration. >> and then there was a promise to reform immigration during his first term. he ran on this. was that kept or broken? >> we rated this one promise broken. we rate our promises based on outcomes. so if someone tried but they didn't make it they still get a promise broken. during the time that the democrats controlled congress, this promise seemed to be crowded out while they were passing held care and financial reform. >> what about his promise to extend the bush tax cuts for lower income americans. >> this one got a promise kept.

>> i should note these tax rates expire in 2013. so after the election we will have to keep a close watch to see what happens next. >> it's a lot of talk already. thank you for that. i know you have a whole list. ten promises that were broken and ten promises that were kept. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> democrats are gearing up for their party's convention, planning parties and celebrations but not everyone in charlotte is celebrating. we look at the city's homeless population and the effect that the dnc is having on them. >> in a tough economy, cheap motels are a refuge for homeless families. here the sunset inn typically offers rooms for $35 a night but during the convention the rate could skyrocket to 250 tlrs.

>> i think it's kind of ridiculous. but what can i do about it? >> she has been living in one of these small rooms with six other people including her three kids. now she is forced to move out at a time when school has just started. >> are your kids school aged? >> one is. >> how are you going to work that? >> i have no clue. i don't know. i'm just playing it day by day. but i got to do what i got to do. >> the manager says he can turn down the chance to cash in while prices are high. >> everybody is raising the price up, so why not we? it's not about homeless or anything else. it's just like, we give reasonable rates. if they can afford it they can stay. >> i do get frustrated from a personal level because i don't feel that people should have a life that doesn't have dignity.

>> carla will help homeless find beds. >> we hope to have eight families here. >> the charities within the network including the urban ministry center try to work together because it's so hard to predict how many beds they will need. >> we don't know numbers. so we're preparing as if there might be hundreds. >> and it's made more difficult by the increase in the number of homeless families. it went up 36% in 201 and 12 1% in 2011. and moving from place to place takes a big toll on families with children. >> it's more than just inconvenient. most of these folks don't have transportation. where are they going? how will they move that stuff and where that l that stuff be that it stays safe? >> if the motels drop their

prices right after the convention ends, families could move back in next week but darren says that still doesn't fix the real problem. >> this was just a small blip on the screen compared to the bigger issue we're facing here. so this democratic national convention is not really a huge deal for us. we're preparing for the overflow but the bigger issue is that our spike in family homelessness caught us offguard in this city. >> cnn, charlotte, north carolina. >> that spike is tremendous. homelessness up by 30%. e-mails from michael jackson's tour promoter paints a scary picture as he prepared for his final tour. we have the details. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing.

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>> it is 40 minutes past the hour. the head promoter was not sure that the man was ready. he believed that he was pair noid and obsessive and suggested that a top psychiatrist evaluate him asap. what else is in those e-mail? >> there is a lot but executives

were saying they were really worried about michael jackson's health and his anlt to perform. the la times obtained these e-mails after they were gathering for insurance companies seeking to obtain a policy purchase. the e-mails detail an encounter between the president mickeyel phillips and michael jackson the day he was supposed to announce 50 shows scheduled. the e-mail has phillips saying m.j. is locked in his room drunk andspondentdespondent. i'm trying to sober him up. he is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self-loathing and doubt now that it is show time. we have been calling for reaction and spokes people from the jackson family and the state have decided to decline comment on these e-mails. >> i got another question for you. there are new details about

prince harry's vacation in vegas. what else can you tell us about that? >> you know, it's been two weeks since these reports from the vegas vacation surface and the stories are still coming out about prince harry. the british papers were a little late to the party. now they seem to be reveling in all of the coverage. one woman has come forward to tell a british tabloid that she kissed the prince that night but that she was a gentleman and it didn't go beyond that. there are other reports out there that say this never happened and she was not in the room with him. but the real news will come when the prince makes his first public appearance, which is apparently going to happen today. prince harry is scheduled to appear at a children's charity event that he is a patron of. probably a good time to do his appearance when he is surrounded by kids and happy times. >> very good point. michelle turner, thank you very

much. join a.j. hammer on show time tonight. and prince andrew repelled down a skyscraper in 30 minutes. this is the tallest building in western europe. goodness. boy is that scary. it is an out of control truck driving straight into a panicked crowd. it was all caught on video. you will see this play out. hang. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all.

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with a subaru you can always find a way. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most.

ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. checking top stories. the democratic national convention kicks off with a labor day celebration today. the actual convention starts tomorrow. tuesday's highlights include speeches from michelle obama and san antonio mayor. in sports, penn state looks to rebound this week after losing its season opener at home to ohio university. the the lions open a new era saturday in the wake of joe paterno's death.

>> penn state plays at virginia on saturday. >> wow. it's tough to look at. that is a monster truck. it spins out of control, plows into a crowd of terrified onlookers this is a race in oregon this weekend. only three people in the front row were injured. can you believe that? from the looks of it, things could have been a whole lot worse. that is incredible video. >> farmers across much of the country have been hoping for the same thing -- rain. isaac brought some much needed

moisture to the midwest. nearly two inches but it's not enough. >> you put so much time and effort into it and money, and you see no return. >> i will turn the cows into this field in the next few days and they can eat some leaves and stuff like that, but they won't get much. it will keep them alive for a few more days. >> it's a gamble. we hope we will get some fall regrowth. that we will get enough moisture that it will start growing again and we will have something to feed them this winter. >> and if not? >> we will have to sell a bunch more cows. >> that's a tough situation. meteorologist is joining us now. they were saying earlier when isaac was first starting that they were hoping for about eight inches of rain. did i see two inches? >> two and three on the whole throughout places like il skpil indiana. i want to look at how much rain

we did see. illinois picked up about five and a half, a little more than that in greenville. kansas city just under three. not huge numbers. look at these huge numbers. six times more than that in places like new orleans. over 20 inches. in alabama, 17 over and a half. slidell, almost 10.5. where we really needed the rain this is the drought monitor from last week. the newest monitor will come out including the isaac rain. but this is where we didn't need exit it is where we got it. in the darkest reds, we didn't get the huge numbers. i want to give you an example. this is arkansas and this is the drought monitor and this is the rainfall total we saw. there is the darkest red and you can see how much we picked up, maybe one to three inches. kind of a good snapshot of where we really needed it didn't get

it to the extent that we could. we do have moisture in the forecast so we do have more chances for rain. >> there is a little good news. thank you so much. 49 minutes past the hour. cape cod beachgoers are staying close to shore with ocean swimming banned due to great white shark swimmings. the sharks have been coming 15 feet close to shore. one great white washed up on the beach. state officials are not sure how the 1600 pound shark died. wow. >> blond hair and blue eyes as qualifications for a job. that's what a former wet seal worker says she was told and says it is why she was fired. ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today

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retailer wet seal. an image that nicole did not fit. this is what management made clear to her. >> being terminated because you're african-american is something totally different. >> fired because she is black. in 2008, she was a manager of a wet seal store at this mall in springfield, pennsylvania. a mall where there are more black customers. she did so well at her job that the district manager promoted her to a new store in a higher end mall. most of the customers there are white. when the vice president came to iminspect the store and she heard this. >> she said that's the store manage sner i wanted someone with blond hair and blue eyes. >> four days later, cogdel was fired. the replacement was a white manager with less experience and

poor performance record but paid more. what makes this case so different is that lawyers say they can trace a discrimination to a vice president at wet seal with an e-mail. the e-mail was forwards to cogdel. she said it's from the very same vice president who said she wanted a blond manage wer blue eyes. the e-mail says, "nee "need diversity. african-american dominate. huge issue". >> i thought this is the essential smoking gun. >> lawyer nancy demis represents many who said they were denied pay raises and enforced promotions because black employees don't fit the brand image. >> in retail in particular, people are